Pavlovsk awaits change of law

There has been very little information recently about the fate of the Pavlovsk Experiment Station. The Vavilov Research Institute (VIR) reported that on 26 October Igor Igoshin, a deputy head of the parliament’s Committee on Science and Scientific Technologies, introduced a draft law that treats the status of genetic resources collections. The draft modifies a section of the Land Code of Russia, which refers to valuable land that belongs to the State.

According to VIR, article 100, paragraph 4, item 1 of the Code reads, in part.

“…the most valuable lands are lands within which there are natural sites as well as cultural heritage sites of special scientific, historical and cultural value (typical or rare landscapes, cultural landscapes, communities of plant and animal organisms, rare geological formations, lands to be used for activities of research organizations”

A change in wording to ensure that field genebanks are also covered may help to resolve the disputes over the ownership and future of the land. The collection may also gain the status of National Heritage, which could in theory help to protect it.